Wire-fence machine



(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet l.

0. A. MORROW. WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

No. 603m?. Patented May 1o, 1898.

(No Model.) s sneetsusheet `2A 0. A. MORROW. WIRE EENGE MACHINE. No. 603,917. Patented'May 10,1898.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

O. A. MORROW. WIRE FENCE MAGHINE.

N0. 603,917. Patented May 10,1898.

Ilnrrnn @raras FArnNr OLIVER A. MORROW, OF WHITEHALL, ILLINOIS.

WIRE-FENCE MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,917, dated May 10, 1898.

Application filed February 6, 1897. Serial No. 622,283. (No model.)

T0 LLZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER A. Monnow, a citizen of the United States, residing at Whitehall, in the county of Greene and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has reference to a novel construction in a machine for weaving wire fences, the object being to provide an inexpensive and simple machine of this character that can be operated to weave a fence in a factory or on the ground and which readily weaves different designs.

The invention consists in the features of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure l is a side elevation of a fence-weaving machine constructed in accordance with thisA invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the same and taken on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 is a face view of the upright with the spoolcarryln g arms omitted. Fig. 4. is a perspective view in detail of one of the gear-wheels, its spindle, and spool-carrying arms. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one of the spools. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view illustrating the manner in which the spool-carrying arms deliver and receive the spools from each other. Fig. 7 is a face view of the upright, like Fig. 3, and illustrating a modified construction embodying thisinvention. Fig. 8 is a perspective View of a portion of the upright, like Fig. 2, illustrating another modified construction embodying this invention. Fig. 8 is a reduced view of a portion of the finished fencing as made by the modified construction of Fig. 8.

c Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the post or upright upon which the operative parts of the machine are mounted. This post or upright is provided at its lower end with a transverse roller 2, secured to the sides thereof, and extending rearwardlyin an inclined position are the legs 3, provided at their lower ends with the transverse roller 4. These legs 3 are suitablybraced to the upright by means of the bars. The said upright 1 is provided with a plurality of openings fl, through which the horizontal wires of the fence extend, and the machine is to be moved by means of a lever 6, pivoted and supported between the bars 5 by pivot 7. Mounted also upon the pivot 7 is a winding-drum a, that is provided with a ratchet-wheel b. The lever 6 is provided with a pawl o, While a pawl d is mounted upon the upright l. Attached to the winding-drum ais a wire or cable e, of any desired length, to the other end of which is fastened a clutch f, having a pivoted jaw g, by means of which the said wire e can be fastened to one of the horizontal strands of the fence. It is seen, therefore, that when this machine is set up in the manner shown and the wire or cable c extended and clutched to the lower strand of the fence-wire by turning the lever 6 upon its pivot the drum a can be 'turned to wind the wire or cable e upon the same, and thus move the upright or the fence-weaving machine along its track.

It is noted that when the lever is pulled forwardly it moves the winding-drum, but when it is thrown back against the upright the pawl c passes over the teeth of the ratchetwheel, the pawl d holding the ratchet-wheel in position. The extent to which the upright is moved by this lever regulates the size of the mesh, and to make the same adjustable a stop 9 is adj ustably secured upon one of the legs 3 and in the path of the lever 6, whereby the extent of the movement on the part of the lever to move the machine is regulated. The movement in the opposite direction is regulated by the contact between the lever and the upright. It will be noted, of course, that any number of horizontal Wires may be accommodated by this machine, according to the number of openings in the upright. Mounted upon said upright and concentric with vthe openings la therein are the gearwheels 10, provided with hollow spindles ll. Mounted upon the upright and between each of these gear-wheels l() is a gear-pinion 10a, interm eshing with the adjacent gear-wheels l0 for the purpose of causing these gear-wheels to rotate in the same direction. One of said gear-wheels is provided with a bevel-gear 12, that intermeshes with the bevelgear 13, mounted upon the upright l and which is rotated' by means of the crank-handle 14. In

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this way it will be seen that the rotation of the different'gear-wheels and spindles is controlled by the crank-handle and can be quickly reversed as occasion requires. The said spindles 11 are in alinement with each other vertically and are each provided with two pairs of arms 15, extending diam etrically opposite. The arms in each pair on the spindle are in alinement with each other, while the arms of the different pairs upon a spindle are radially opposite. The arms upon adjacent spindles are set a little out of alinement, so that they pass closely as the arms rotate.

The jaws 16 of the different arms extend in the same relative directionthat is to say, that as the spindle rotates all the jaws turn forwardly or backwardly. The corresponding jaws upon the arms of the adjacent spindles are set in opposite directions-that is to say, the jaws that interchange the spools extend in the same directionand therefore, referring to Fig. 2, the upper jaws of the lower set and the upper jaws of the upper set are what I term the corresponding jaws, and it will be noted that, as shown in Fig. 2, they extend in opposite directions. The length of the jaws is such that as the jaws of adjacent spindles pass each other they are for an instant in alinement or opposite. This construction is for the purpose of allowing the spools to be changed from one set of jaws to another, as will be fully described hereinafter. The ends of the arms are each provided with a pivoted section 17 upon the outer end of each of the jaws 16. Thissection 17 is pivoted to the'arm in such a manner that it can only swing outward upon'the side of the jaw, a stop limiting the movement of this section in the opposite direction, so that normally under the influence of an adjustable spring 18 this section stands in a position shown in full lines in the drawings. The said spring 18, that is connected with the section 17 and with the main portion of the arm 15, serves also as a clamp to hold the spool within the jaw. It is understood, of course, that the spool must be held in a manner that will allow it to be removed from the jaw, while held therein efficiently to prevent it from accidentally dropping from the arm. For this purpose one end of the spring 18 is connected with the section 17 adjacent to the jaw anda curved part of the spring 18 passes through and to one side of the jaw, so that it stands in the path of anything that is to be passed into the jaw. In this way it willV be seen that the spring serves to hold whatever part is passed therein, butwill give and allow its removal when force is applied. To facilitate the insertion and removal of the spool-carriers from the jaws of the arm, I employ also a spring h. This spring bears at its opposite ends against the inner jaw and against a lug i on the main portion of the arm. It is seen, therefore, that when the pivoted section 17 of the arm turns upon its pivot it serves to compress this spring in a direct line. By the use of this spring it is seen that I am enabled to hold the arm and its pivoted section in a straight position,while at the same time the spring 18 can be made weak enough to allow the insertion and removal of the spool-carrier without the consequent jarring or danger of a failure of operation that might be due to making the spring 18 too strong.

The wire-spools (indicated by 19) are of ordinary construction and rotatably mounted within a rectangular frame 20, which is provided with a tension-spring 21, engaging the spool. The frame 2O is provided with trunnions 22, one of which is hollow, as shown, and through which the wire wound upon the spool is threaded. These trunnions 22 are adapted to pass into the jaws of theV arms, whereby they can be rotated therewith,'and in the drawings the manner in which these spools are held by the arm is clearly shown, as well as the manner in which the wire carried by the spools passes therefrom and is twisted around the horizontal strands of the fence. The trunnions 22 are further provided with ribs or shoulders it, two of these ribs or shoulders being placed upon the inner end portion of the inner or solid trunnionwheel; but there is only one upon the outer or hollow trunnion. This arrangement is such that the spool carrier or frame 20 is always held between these shoulders or ribs to prevent the longitudinal movement thereof, so that the frame is prevented from moving bodily with relation to the arms.

It will be noted, of course, that since the gear-wheels, hollow spindles, and arms rotate in the same direction the arms will pass by each other in opposite direction. In weaving the fence it is noted, of course, that every other spindle and its two pair of arms carries two of the spools and that the crank 14 is turned always in a manner to cause the arms carrying the spools to advance. Therefore when these arms carrying the spools meet the empty arms it is obvious that the pivoted section v17 of the empty arm will bend and pass the trunnions of the spool-carriers. The spindles are rotated in this manner until the wires have been twisted around the horizontal strands, after which the operating-4 lever 6 is vibrated to move the machine in position for the next weave and then the rotation of the part is reversed, whereupon it will be seen that the empty arms now advance, while the arms carrying the spools turn backwardly, and as they meet the empty arms the trunnions of the spools enter the jaws thereof and remove them from the other arms, and that as the rotation in this direction continues the arms that now are empty pass by the arms carrying the spools by reason of the pivoted section 17.

It is understood, of course, that a machine constructed in this manner can be used to weave the fence on the ground and upon the posts set for this purpose, and, furthermore, that it is simple and inexpensive, but under IOO IIO

perfect control of the operator, since it is operated by two movements only-viz., the operating-lever to cause the machine to advance and the crank-handle, which by being turned in the opposite direction causes the wire to weave upon the horizontal strands in the manner described.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7 a construction is shown wherein the machine is capable of weaving afence wherein the lower horizontal strands are closer together than the upper strands. In this construction the gear-wheels lO are all the same size; but the difference in the distance between the centers of these gear-wheels is attained by reason of the fact that the gear-pinions 10au vary in diameter, as shown in the drawings. In this way it is seen that the lower horizontal strands of the fence are much closer together than the upper ones. however, the arms l5 differ in length, although it is to be noted that the pivoted sections 17 of the arms are the same as the other. Otherwise the construction is the same as heretofore described.

In the modification shown in Fig. 8 `the machine is capable of weaving only one style of fence-namely, that which is illustrated in Fig. 8a. In this construction the standards 11 are provided with only one pair of arms l5 and only one ofthe spools is employed. It will be seen in this modification that the single spool will be transferred from each pair of arms of the set, and it will therefore be carried from the upper to the lower strand of the fence to weave the fence, as shown in Fig. 8. The operation is practically the same and will be understood in view of what has been described in relation to the other con-` struction. As shown in said Fig. 8, the spool is held by the arms of the upper spindle, and as this revolves it will be seen that the set of arms just below will take the spool and turn it in the opposite direction, whereupon it will be taken from this second set bythe third set below, which has not been illustrated, and so on. The operation in connection with this modification is of course obvious and will be plainly seen in connection with the above.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine of the class described, an upright provided with weaving devices and with rollers, a winding-drum mounted upon said upright and connected with a cable or wire having a clutch, a pivoted lever and pawl for rotating said winding-drum, and a device for adjusting the movement of said pivoted lever.

2. In a machine of the kind specified, an iupright provided with weaving devices and with rollers, a winding-drum having a cable and clutch, a pawl upon said upright to engage a ratchet-wheel carried by said windingdrum, a pivoted lever having a pawl to en- In this construction,

dles geared together to rotate in the same direction, a pair of arms carried by each of said spindles, jaws upon said arms, and spools provided with trunnions adapted to enter said jaws, said trunnions being provided with shoulders or ribs.

5. In a machine of the kind specified, an upright provided with devices for moving the same, a plurality of hollow rotatable spindles geared together to rotate in the same direction,arms carried by said spindles and provided with jaws, the corresponding jaws on the arms of adjacent spindles being set in opposite direction, and spools provided with trunnions adapted to enter said jaws.

6. In a machine of the kind specified, the combination with two adjacent rotatable hollow spindles geared together to rotate in the same direction, of arms mounted upon said spindles, said arms being arranged in vpairs and situated diametrically opposite upon said spindles, the arms on adjacent spindles being situated a little out of alinement whereby they can pass one another,and spools provided with trunnions to enter said jaws.

7. In a machine of the kind specified, the combination with two adjacent hollow rotatable spindles geared together to rotate in the same direction, of diametrical oppositely-arranged pairs of arms mounted upon each of said spindles, each of said arms being provided with a pivoted outer end section, and a4 spring for holding said outer end section normally in alinement with the main portion of the arms.

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8. In a machine of the kind speciied, ahollow rotatable spindle having oppositely-arranged pairs of arms, each of `said arms having an outer pivoted section, and a spring for holding said section normally in alinement with the main portion of the arm, said section being provided with a jaw across which said spring extends. i

9'. In a machine of' the kind specified, a hollow rotatable spindle having oppositely-arranged pairs of arms, each of said arms having an outer pivoted section, and an adjustable spring for holding said section normally in alinement with the main portion of the arm, said section being provided with a jaw across which said spring extends.

l0. In amachine of the kind specified,a hollow rotatable spindle having a pair of arms, each of said arms having an outer pivoted section, a spring for holding saidsections nor- In testimony whereof I have signed this maiiy in alinement with the main portion of specification in the presence of two subscribthe arms, said section being provided with a ing Witnesses.

jaW across Which said spring extends, and a OLIVER A. MORROW. second spring bearing at its opposite ends /Vitnesses:

against said pivoted section and the main FRANCIS FOWLER,

portion of said arm. J. H. PIPER. 

